User Reviews

Weaknesses: Not s single one after two years. Well, perhaps the price... And perhaps some areas which are hard to get in order to clean them up.

Bottom Line:

What a bike!!! Best bike for XC!!! Haven't had a simple problem with it, whether riding on dirt roads, single trails or plain roads. After two years and multiple crashes, the bike still stands with its original components. Had minor problems with the front wheel the first few rides but after a couple of truings it never came back. Places I've been with this bike; San Francisco, MT Tam, Marin county, Los Angeles, Santa Monica mountains, Mammoth, South Orange County and the famous Rosarito-Ensenada ride.

Chances are it will be a LONG TIME before I buy another bike. So the investment on an expensive bike does not seem bad at all now (back then had seconds thoughts…) If money is not an issue, BUY IT! Chances are in the long term you will save money from repairs and upgrades.

This bike is awesome! I love every aspect of it---climbing, descending, cornering, weight and the bike looks great as well. It has give me added confidenance and speed while riding and made me an overall much better rider.

You owe it to yourself to try a Marin FRS if considering an full-suspension bike.

I got this bike after riding a completely rigid bike for a long time. It took me a while to get used to it and after many endos I finally got the hang of it. This bike has made me a better rider because it begs to be pushed to the limit. This bike performs best when going fast. When going slow one needs to slow down the rebound damping on the suspension and hone their balance. I used to be a straight-up old-school XC rider but now I enjoy more of the freeride stuff simply because the bike likes it! This bike handles 5-foot drops with my 6' 180lb ass on it! I wouldn't mind a stiffer fork with more travel but that will have to be part of the joy of upgrading.To make a long story short - this is a great cross-country full-suspension bike, with some modifications it can be a good freeride bike as well. If you want to do truly hardcore freeriding (>6' drops) or major downhilling you probably want a bike with disc brakes, more travel and strength (and weight). But for most people this bike can take you past where you're willing to go.

Bike Setup: SID XC 80mm up front. Tossed the straight bar for an Easton Monkeybar riser. Miss the bar-ends though. Tossed the skinny tires for Michelin Hot S 2.1's. Tacoed the rear rim so I replaced it with a Mavic F519 with straight-gauge spokes.

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Andy
a Weekend Warrior
from Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK

Date Reviewed: July 5, 2001

Strengths: Very good climber, I was impessed the first time I rode this bike on a technical climb with the way the back wheel can get traction on any surface. Not too bad on the downs either. Nice & easy to maintain, pivot gave no trouble over a winter of horrible conditions, Fox shock works well, easy to service too.

Weaknesses: Could do with four inchs of travel up front as well to even things out a bit. Try Pace Evos/Evo II's huge improvement!! Tyre clearance when removing wheel is poor but can get used to it.

Bottom Line:

Absolutly bl**dy lovely!! best trail bike I've ever ridden. Comfy for long rides over rough ground. Could even be raced XC with lighter wheels. All XT kit works beautifully in all conditions, only problem is position of bottle mounts and carrying the thing, frame design prevents shouldering the bike.

I've raced most hardtails through FS bike. Still can't believe how well this bike can perform so well yet very little people know about this bike existance. Sure we've heard of Cannondale, Santa cruz, Specialized, Merlin, Titus but who ever heard of Marin? With minor modifications, we're able to drop the weight to 21-22lb from the stock 23-24lb. Not surprise that this bike earned championship title for some racers. This bike zooms on uphill, uncommon among fs bike, yet plush to absorb rocky and broken trail.

I test rode everything "no parking lot stuff all off road on my favorite trails and in Moab and Big Bear". Got lucky and ran into Marin Demo Squad. Bob is a great guy and I was totally shocked on how well the bike road. Bottom line I bought two bikes one for my wife and myself. Plus two of my riding partners bought bikes also. Too bad Marin doesn't get the hype like other bikes do. I was leaning towards the Superlight, the Tracer and Loco were little bit over built for my riding style. The Marin out climbed all of them and handled well in tight rocky singletrack and was very stable on smooth fast trails. Overall Great bike for someone who doesnt by into all the hype and wants a light weight, 4 inch travel bike that handles great and climbs like a hard tail.

Best mtn bike ever ridden. This one beats them all. Leave other hardtale and full suspension bikes in the dust. It's super light 21lbs after wheel/tire and Ti hardware upgrade. Before you buy a Cannondale, Specialized or SC, try this first. You will see what I mean.

Strengths: The Mt vision pro gives an overall stable and lightweight feel. I tested the unit @ macintosh reserve ,one of the best race venues in Ga. It was amazing ! I was riding a gear higher almost everywhere and could hit lines that I would have avoided on my hard tail!It climb well I was not sure what 2 expect with the suspesion on short steep grunts ! It did very well.

Weaknesses: None that I could tell in that 2hr demo session ,atleast none that could not be corrected in set-up.

Bottom Line:

I really look forward to riding a full suspension Marin this year 2001 ...hopefully we will get the frame /bikes soon !

Strengths: Great balance between climbing and smoothing out the downhills. Great over a particulary nasty down hill with tree roots crossing the descent. Climbs very well compared to a friends GT. Doesn't seem to sap the pedal effort as some FS bikes do. Brakes are good although they do go off in wet muddy conditions where a disc set up would be better.

The best all round user friendly FS bike I have tried.Happy to be riden all day or just stunting around jumping things and crashing a lot.Hasn't broken yet and I am particularly heavy for this sport. Good for a beginner or pro alike.Very good deal to buy a year old bike paid £1200 for mine. Result!

Coming from a road racing background, my technical skills are still not as good as I would like, but I don't make my expert riding friends wait too long at the bottom of the trail. This bike could potentially make very technical tracks possible for an average rider, if set up correctly from the beginning. The pivot placement seems to strike a great balance for climbing (very little bob) and fast, knarly descents. Stock running gear is more than sufficient. I would recommend the Mt Vision for anyone who wants maximum fun for their hard-earned dollar.

I've had this bike now for 6-7 months and it's now seen the best that the UK conditions can throw at it, so I think it's reasonable to give an initial verdict on it.

Wow!

Before buying this I'd been riding a 98 GT Backwoods that I'd specc'd up to a good standard (XT, Mavics, Manitou Fork). It was a good bike but after a long day in the saddle you knew about it! Time to take the FS plunge then. Of all the bike I looked at it came down to a choice of 3; The Marin, The Sub 5 or The Stumpy. There was very little to choose between the 3 but going on the principle that 3/4 of the bikers in my club ride Marins I knew they must be doing something OK!

What a differance. I was no longer wheezing away at the back after a 30 miler through the Northamptonshire bogs. Cycling was an effortless joy. Anything greater than 1 inch was being bunny hopped. Rocky downhills were being taken at speed considered suicidal before. Control was perfectly balanced thanks to two smooth, fluid shocks, braking was sharp thanks to the ever excellent Avids, shifting was perfect as should be expected from a complete XT drivtrain.A fantastic bike, with only 2 minor gripes....

1. IRC tyres.... Everyone in our club who uses IRC tyres flats every ride. Michelin, Contis, Geax never a problem. This may be conicidence but in the 2 years I had the GT I flatted once, I flatted twice in the first month of using IRC.

2. There is very little clearance between the tyres and brake pads when removing the tyres which must damage the tyre. This are easy to solve... Fit a Pace fork at the dealer or fit a Hope 2 pot disc at the front.